Just a quick question as I have noticed a few times posters have mentioned they feed their dogs 2-3 (or maybe more) times a day and dont get why some people only feed their dogs once a day. I understand why with pups, pregnant bitches, feeding mums and dogs who may be poorly but why with other dogs? Im just woundering if it is better for the dogs and comes with positive outcomes, or is it just personal preference?

My girl is only fed once a day, and although I personally do not mind this, I have before tried to cut her meal into 2 (aswell as trying to keep her on two meals a day before she went down to one) and feed her twice a day but sadly she will not eat twice a day, she will turn her nose up. Strange I know.

I feed the adults twice a day because they are a deep chested breed (greyhound) and i think eating less lessens the risk of bloat, along with restricting exercise prior and post food for an hour or so.

hmmmm my girl is a greyhound whippet :/ Maybe I should be feeding twice a day, but if the current situation suits her, and she is a fussy eater with any change in routine making her go off food, is it best to stay with what im doing?

They tend to be fussy eaters, if it works for her and she;s not happy when you go to two meals i'd leave as is, but i would always ensure no walks/runs takes place until an hour before and after she has eaten.

I feed twice a day, guess it comes from having GSDs and being aware of the risk of bloat. Think dogs in the domestic situation are better fed twice a day as they probable find fitting into the domestic routine easier - following the eating of a full days food the dog should sleep for a fairly long while and in the domestic situation that may well not be suitable so the dog will exercise at a time that is not best for their health. A lot depends on the size of the dog, the depth of the chest and the routine of the household.

I used to feed twice a day, but now I'm down to one dog, her own preference is for once a day.
I would prefer to feed twice, but she just won't have it.

I feed twice a day and always have, small meal for breakfast bigger tea.  Not sure why really to be honest, I know it lessens the risk of bloat.  I think also I am just not comfortable with the idea of my dogs going 24 hours between meals, seems such a long time, all my dogs toilet quite soon after eating so it is not like it is taking a long time to go through them.  If your dog is happy and healthy then stick with what works.

It is far kinder on the stomach to feed twice a day even when adults(more often for pups). We have done this for a good number of years now...

I feed twice a day, a) because of the risk of bloat and b) I'm sentimental enough to enjoy seeing the dogs have twice as much pleasure in their days! It used to be traditional to only feed dogs once a day, when the day's work was over so they slept well. Watchdogs, however, were fed only in the morning so that they'd be wakeful and alert at night.

Quite apart from the risk of bloat, I can tell if my dogs haven't been fed twice a day (sometimes happens such as if we have to be up really early like 4 am for a show) -they start vomiting yellow bile which is due to the stomach being empty -the dog is hungry.

We all know that people put on weight more easily if they eat less often, and I'd imagine it is the same for animals as well -their body will know it won't be fed soon again so will hang on to all the calories.

Sounds like it's not a bad idea for the bigger / deep chested dogs to feed twice a day, though as others have said if your girl is happy as she is I wouldn't change. My own dogs are small (large toy breed and small gundog) and they've always seemed very happy on one meal a day as adults, no yellow bile, no weight gain etc. Of course they get a few little biscuits here and there during the day as treats or training so their tummies aren't totally empty for 24 hours. :-)

> It is far kinder on the stomach to feed twice a day even when adults(more often for pups). We have done this for a good number of years now...

Just wondered if there is any scientific evidence for this as I understood that dogs/Wolves were adapted to a lifestyle where they would gorge on a kill and then not eat for a day or 2?

>> It is far kinder on the stomach to feed twice a day even when adults(more often for pups). We have done this for a good number of years now...
> Just wondered if there is any scientific evidence for this as I understood that dogs/Wolves were adapted to a lifestyle where they would gorge on a kill and then not eat for a day or 2?

There maybe but experience is good enough for me!
I know in the past some have sworn by a day a week fasting but I dont expect there are any that do that now.

There is a fair amount of difference between what happens in the wild & domesticated animals.

>Just wondered if there is any scientific evidence for this as I understood that dogs/Wolves were adapted to a lifestyle where they would gorge on a kill and then not eat for a day or 2?

How many of us allow our dogs to eat all they possibly can and gorge themselves?

Our domesticated dogs are so far removed now from thier wild cousins that they have got used to our ways of feeding them. I feed twice a day as much for the fact that I have a large breed prone to bloat as for the fact thet in a domestic setting dogs can get bored and food time is a source of excitement for them. In the wild dogs/wolves spend thier time sleeping then a burst of energy to kill and feed then a long period of rest. Our lazy domesticated dogs have thier bursts of energy once or twice a day on a walk and most do not over exhert themselves as they would on a hunt and kill, then they spend most of the day sleeping/waiting for food to arrive. I suppose it is only in the last 30 years or so as dogs have become much more "Pets" than working dogs that we have started to break thier days up more with 2 meals. Not so many years ago kibble was unheard of and dogs still got fed scraps/raw food. The kibbles we feed have quite a fast digestive rate so their tummies empty faster. Raw fed dogs have a slowed rate, due to bone content and larger unprossesed lumps of meat. However as dogs get smaller meals now because they get regular good quality food thier tummies empty faster anyway.
If a pack of wolves had a constant suppy of easily found good food I susspect they would choose to eat every day. Nature does not supply food like humans do so wolves eat as much as possible in one meal because they never know when the next one is going to come.
Dogs are scavengers and will quite happily eat little and often or if the situation demands it gorge on a big kill.
Aileen

One of my breeds would be too risky feeding once a day, due to the high risk of hypoglycaemia.  I've heard of very toy dogs dying from it.

And with the Beardies, I have got one quite large girl who is physically sick from hunger if left 24 hours.

I only feed mine once a day as adults but by that, I mean complete meal.  They get that in the evening.  In the morning, they get leftover cereal/milk and some toast and throughout the day, they get bits and pieces and biccy's.

My Akitas used to fast themselves.  Some breeders say this harks back to the natural instinct.  They would just take a day off eating, once every couple of weeks and nothing you could do would tempt them.  They would eat grass during this time and I think it was to clear out/empty the stomach.